Refrigerator.



' B. W. SHIRK. REFRIGERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY'B, 1910.- l

Patented Mar.14,1911.

l f To all lwhom 'it maycomrrn:

UNITED STATES rail?ENT- OFFlC-E ELBERT WALKER SHIBK, QF BEDFORD, INDIANA.'

BEFRIGERATOR.

'Specication of Letters Patent.

1,910. Serial No. 570,982.

Be it known that I, ELnER'r' WALKER SmRK, a citizen of the United States of' America, and resident of Bedford,Lawrence county, Indlana, have mvented 'a certain new and useful Improvement 1n Refrigerators, of which the following'is a specification. l

My invention relates to refrigerators or ice chests madeA from cement or concrete or other similar material. f

Itcontemplates a refrigerator or ice chest in which the Walls are made'hollow by the inclusion ofl paper tubes, therein.V 'In this Way the structure is made light,and insulation in the form of dead air spaces is obtained in a simpleand inexpensive manner.

The tubes of paper, or other material, may

Vbe inserted 'in various Ways, as Will hereinafter more fully appear.

This is a division of my. earlier Yapplica'- `tion, Serial Number 539,224, tiled January In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a refrigerator embodying the principles of my invention,

" showing the same partly in vertical section.

. the bottom of the body structure.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section through one side Wall and the bottom, showing the mold by whichthe walls are formed in the process of manufacture. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on line 3-.3 in Fig. 1, showing the plates of the mold. Figa-4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing a differentl Way of using the tubes.

As thus illustrated, the refrigerator has the solid top Y, the legs D, and the front door X, all made of cement or concrete. The sides (Z are vertical and have the tubes G embedded therein. The interior iixtures of the refrigerator may be .of any suitable character.

`The mold -or formmembers A are arranged in position as shown, for the purpose of forming the side Walls and the legs and y Paper tubes G are Vdisposed vertically between the `vertical plates Ay-and the Wet concrete isv poured in and allowe`d-to solidify around these paper tubes, thereby`forrning dead air spaces which are hermetically`-sea1ed all able'.

A Patented Mar. 14, 1911. original application inea January 21, 1910, serial Nq. 539,224. niviaeiiana this application mad July s, Y

. around. These tubes, of course, can ben p made of metal or other suitable material, but,

'I vfind that ordinary paper tubes, with a.-

cap at each end, are very Well adapted for the purpose. Similar tubes g can be embodied in the bottom of lthe refrigerator or ice chest, so that dead air spaces will be pro.4 f. vided here also.A When the concrete 'has dried and hardened the plates and members of the mold are then removed, and the conmanner-that is to say, it can be given asucrete` can then be tinishedinV any suitable".

percial coating of enamel or'other matei rial, both inside and out, if such is desir- Thus it.' win be' I provide a particular Way in which la re# frigerator or ice chest can be constructed of concrete with Walls having dead air seen that by my invention spaces, and in which the concrete serves to give both shape and structural coherence to the entire body structure. This is true, of course, even though the concrete be reinforced in any desired manner. The tubes themselvesserve, of course, as a sort ofreinforcement for the concrete. A portable body structure thus formed by' plain or ref. inforced conorete,'molded into the desired v formv or shape, is not only strong and durable, but is also 4fire proof `and moistureL proof, and is a good heat insulator, whereby the ice Within is prevented from melting too `The concrete may be formed in the ordinarymanner, as by using Portland cement With gravel or crushed rock, or by .using Portland cement and sand -in any suitable manner. Other cements may vbe used, as, for example, natural'cement, or any *ofl the equivalents of Portland or natural cement,J Whichv equivalents I hereby designate as calcareous cementitious materials, such as lime, gypsum &c. Y Y I Y What Iclaim as my invention is:

1. A refrigerator or ice chest having body Walls of calcareous material, with dead lair spaces therein formed by tubes distributed separately throughout the said material,

which material, such as a Portland cement mixture, serves to hold said tubes 1n `pla-ce and together, said tubes being of paper and.

sealed at each end, whereb the dead air walls thereof and sealed at' each end to form `10 'paces are obtained for insu ating purposes, dead air spaces, and horizontal tubes of as set forth. similar character in thebottom, as set forth. 2. A refrigerator or ice chest having ver- Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 5 tical tubes embedded in the calcareous side 15th day of June, 1910.

walls thereof and sealed at each end to form ELBERT WALKER SHIRK. dead air s aces, as set forth. Witnesses:

3. A re riger'ator or ice-A. chest having ver- S. Lewis,

tical tubes embedded in the calcareous side J. Nomar. 

